Well, my 75 is going on hold yet again.... I can't get down on the floor at this point in my pregnancy to scrape silicone anyways. In lou of that, I am going to begin an overhaul on the 10 gallon, which I have dubbed - as the title suggests - The Overstock Project. I tend to like to push my tanks to the limit, so I figured why not do it with this tank and have something to enjoy while I can't do much else after Aliceander is born? This began very unexpectedly but I have to say, I'm excited! So far, the stock list consists of the following -

I will probably be changing the bulbs in the tank first and foremost so I can transfer some plants from my 2.5 gallon. My java ferns are making baby leaves like crazy so it shouldn't take much time at all to get a good stock of them in there and I'll probably take half of my crypts from the 2.5 since mine grow so densely. I've been thinking about robbing the driftwood from that tank for a while and will probably end up doing that as well and removing the artificial decorations that I hate in my tank.

After changing the bulbs and moving plants around, we will most likely add a few more fish or snails and upgrade the filter. The one running on the tank just isn't sufficient anymore. Perhaps I can craft my own small-ish canister? I'd like to aim for about 100gph without creating a massive current or spending more than $25. After replacing the filter, it will just be a matter of building stock and growing plants. The tank is going to being a Tetra SafeStart cycle in two days, until then, I will monitor the parameters, but I don't think a single dwarf gourami will produce much waste in that time. I won't be feeding the next two days anyways (I already gave him a shrimp pellet as big as his eye) so it should keep ammonia at bay. I'll do a WC if it hits .25ppm.

How this all started -

I was out to get a snail and a few ghost shrimp for my 2.5 planted because algae is getting to be an issue but the Petsmart we went to didn't have nerites and their ghost shrimp were $0.39 a piece! I can get them for $0.15 at my LFS so I decided to wait. I wasn't about to pay close to $3 for 5 ghost shrimp! My husband's cousin recently upgraded (by much persuasion on my end) her betta from a novelty tank to a 2.5 gallon and he passed away shortly after so it's been empty aside some plants and her mystery snail. She fell in love with the dwarf gourami and ended up with one in her tank..

ANYWHO, while we were there looking at the fish, I had a betta in my hand that I loved. I was walking down the wall of tanks and a bright flash caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I found a single male powder blue dwarf gourami surfing the glass. While we gazed up at the fish, he kept catching my eye. He was so full of SPUNK! We were there for a good two hours and I decided against the betta and brought home my new, bright blue little man. He was in that tiny bag with about 4" of water for a good two or three hours due to the drive home, a stop at McDonalds and helping the get the other gourami acclimated to its new home.

I did a 100% WC (dumped him and his bag water into a tupperware to help oxygenate it a bit while I did this) on my 10 gallon that has been sitting empty for a while now and when I refilled it with a 5x dose of Prime, it stirred up more crud so I did another 50% water change after that and added about 10-15 gallons worth of Prime to the new water. I began acclimating him in a gallon bowl while the filter ran to disperse the prime a little better and get any remaining floating bits out of the water. He was then netted and placed in the tank.

Immediately my little man swam out of the net and began exploring his new home. I put an ugly (by my taste) log decoration in there so he could hide if he wanted but he was all about exploring! I cannot believe the spunk this little man has, he is my pride and joy!! I decided to leave the light on because he didn't seem to be phased in the least by the new environment. After watching him for a bit, I retreated to my room to answer questions and fill everyone in on my new addition and project!

I'm excited for a new project from you, but. . . I worry!!!
You know the word 'overstock' gives me anxiety :P
You may want to hold off on those new additions until things settle down and you can get the 75 up-and-running, I can't think that all those fish would be terribly happy to be crammed into a 10. T__T

I'm excited for a new project from you, but. . . I worry!!!
You know the word 'overstock' gives me anxiety :P
You may want to hold off on those new additions until things settle down and you can get the 75 up-and-running, I can't think that all those fish would be terribly happy to be crammed into a 10. T__T

The 75 is going to constitute much more money and hard labor to get it going. I already have the 10 set up, holding water, ect. Just need a new filter, lights and fish. I prefer to overstock, just my preference. If I ever find fish look stressed when in an overstocked tank for a month, I remove them. My goal isn't to make the fish unhappy to please me aesthetically.

PetMania

03-04-2014 06:30 PM

Just popping in to say Congratulations! :welldone:

rsskylight04

03-04-2014 09:41 PM

Looking forward to what I'm sure will be a great thread to follow. Thanks and good luck!

jaysee

03-05-2014 10:45 AM

Tom rapids mini canister is my suggestion.

Flint

03-05-2014 12:11 PM

That's actually what I decide on, Josh! Haha I'll probably eventually run two but for now just the one. (:

jaysee

03-05-2014 12:19 PM

One will provide more than enough current for the tank. 2 would make a whirlpool.

Flint

03-05-2014 12:28 PM

Oh okay. Maybe I'll leave my HOB on in conjunction. I looked into the SunSun hw-603 but I don't want to spend $50 on just the canister part and not have the tubes and such. It's a 10 gal I can't justify spending as much as I would for my 75 on a folter.Posted via Mobile Device